Resources for AQA A Level Media Studies on MediaEdu

This page should provide you with an index to the information we have on MediaEdu which relates directly to AQA A Level Media Studies.

This page also contains external links to support materials on the AQA site.

AS Schemes

• AQA AS MEST1 Scheme

• AQA AS MEST2 Scheme

A2 Schemes

• AQA A2 MEST3 Scheme

• AQA A2 MEST4 Scheme

Guides

• AQA AS Media Studies | How To Get The Top Grades

• AQA A2 Media Studies...

The catch word for the digital world of new media is convergence. Convergence is the coming together of everything digital.

Definition

Any digital media can be transmitted by any suitable digital medium, such as a wifi broadband connection or mobile phone, so that all communications, text, audio, graphics, video, and broadcasting can be accessed instantly.

The iPhone, Blackberry or computer becomes a two-way communications module with access...

We Study Media by Rob McMinn

The Student Room & Media Studies

Setting up a Radio Station on Mediaed.org.uk

Modern Mechanix: examples of vintage advertising

Technorati on Ideology

Ideology for Kids: Decoding the Kremlin’s Website

The End of Cyberspace

Kinoeye on Media Studies

Bluegrass Film Society

Kids Gobble Up Interactive Junk Food Marketing

Continental Philosophy: Key Notes on Theorists

Dr. Mabuse’s Kaledio-scope: Four Models of...

Television and film crime/cop drama is very popular with a wide audience. Crime dramas seek to anchor the representations of all types of police officers, criminals and victims as ‘believable’ characters, with ‘realistic’ plot lines, set in urban locations.The genre has been taken up in the US under the heading of American Quality Televsion (AQT) - see under heading AQT.

Codes and conventions

Crime dramas:

• are constructed realities
...

2008 Onwards

Unit 1 Investigating Media

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• 2 hour written examination
• 80 marks

Two Sections: A & B

Section A

Four compulsory short answer questions

Section B

A choice of one from two essays

Available January and June

Click on this hyperlink to find out more about Unit 1

Unit 2 Creating Media

• 50% of AS, 25% of A Level
• Practical unit, internally assessed and externally moderated
• 80 marks
• Externally set...

Denotation and Connotation

These are two important words concerned with the way an audience understands the meaning of a media text. These can also be called the signs and signified meaning, or the micro and macro features.

Denotation / sign / micro feature is the basic, literal meaning of what is in the picture or scene.

Connotation / signified meaning / macro feature means different interpretations suggested by the text, often associated...

How do I get my students to reach the top grades? This is a question which we all ask.

Examiners and moderators often see work by students who may not be in the top ability bands yet manage to reach the higher mark bands because they REALLY understand what is required of them.

Below are some ideas and strategies which have been proven to help raise achievement in both exams and coursework modules.  These are focused on the AQA Media Studies A2...

Media Issues

You may wish to focus on “a topic or issue arising out of or suggested by a contemporary media text or texts.” If you adopt this approach, make sure you’re interested in it (!) and don’t lose sight of the specific text(s) upon which your study must centre. Below are a number of issues, by way of example.

The following four important issues could form the basis of your study. Remember, though, the focus must always be the...

• We can organise half-day or full day courses on any aspect of Media Studies at your school or college.

• We can also provide keynote speakers for conferences and training events.

Contact MediaEdu

Programme Details

• We come to you.

• Where possible assessors from leading awarding bodies lead our courses.

• Each revision course is 3 hours in length and is delivered in both whole group and seminar-style workshops. We can run a full-day course, if...

Introduction

All three A Level Media Studies exam specifications emphasise the study of the representation of difference.

AQA suggests:

A case study of refugees in British newspapers for example, would involve research into, and documentation of, the treatment of refugees in a variety of British newspapers (or possibly just one) to pinpoint the political and social reasons for the construction of such media representations and the possible...

There are a few scenarios under which you may find yourself using the film Tsotsi in an examination or assessment. You, or your teacher may perhaps choose the film when given an open ended assignment in a GCSE film assignment for media studies but the most likely circumstance under which you will be using the film is for the WJEC GCSE Film Studies Paper 2, titled ‘Films From Outside Hollywood’ where the film is currently one of the focus...

Functions of the Title Sequence

The functions of the title sequence in a film may seem to be fairly obvious. They are designed to tell the audience the names of the people and organisations involved with the making of the film and in this respect they do the job well.

Irrespective of the genre, there is a conventional way of presenting this information in the credit sequence. This information and the order in which it is presented follows a...

Click on the link below to download a PowerPoint slideshow which introduces you to the coursework unit of AQA A2 Media Studies (MEST4).

MEST4_A2_Coursework_Introduction.ppt

Click on the link below to download a PDF booklet you can print out.

Film Genre - Thrillers.pdf

Media Product One – The Game Play Trailer for Call of Duty

The trailer is the fourth instalment of the Call of Duty game series, which was released in the UK in November 2007. The trailer was widely available, including online and on television. It is a first person shooter game and can be played by a single player or as a multi-player online game. It is available on all main platforms, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo DS.

The...

Luther (BBC)

6 X 60 minutes drama originated on BBC1 May/June 2010

View Preview for Episode One

Characters

• DCI John Luther

• Alice

• DCI Ian Reed

The BBC’s new crime drama Luther is the first major drama series to have its eponymous hero played by a black actor. DCI John Luther, played by British actor Idris Elba, is familiar from his role as ‘Stringer’ Bell the drug lord with business acumen in The Wire. He was also in the US...

Click on the link below to download a frame for analysing the opening of the film ‘Children of Men’.

Film-Opening-Children-Of-Men.doc

‘It’s just an idea for group work deconstructing an interesting text (especially because, unusually, this one starts in the middle of the disequilibrium, rather than establishing an equilibrium first of all, so is good for narrative theory.  Also, our “hero” is rather unheroic (he doesn’t return to the...

Question

“Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products”.

  Who do you think benefits the most – audiences or producers?

Benefits for Audiences

With ‘convergence culture’ audiences benefit because:

• They have a wealth of information available at all times via broadband, wi-fi and multi platform mobile devices such as the iPone and Blackberry.
• Availability of interactive features - Social Networking Sites...

MediaEdu provides access to the following resources:

A Level Media Studies

• Schemes of work for AS and A2
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

GCSE Media Studies

• Schemes of work for GCSE
• Mock Exams
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

Key Concepts & Skills

• Skills Tutorials
• Production Zone
• Key Concept Guides
• Media Language Glossary

Other Resources

• YouTube Playlist

Support Community

• Our colleagues are always...

A Suggested Scheme of Work

This scheme of work is not in any way prescriptive, it is simply offered as a possible way in. It should be adapted and moulded to fit particular teachers, students and resources.

Week 1 Intro

This is the examined unit for A2 worth 50% of the A2 level called Critical Perspectives. I suggest that this unit is taught after the completion of MEST4 course work, so teaching the unit is likely to begin in late January and...

A Suggested Scheme of Work

This scheme of work is not in any way prescriptive, it is simply offered as a possible way in. It should be adapted and moulded to fit particular teachers, students and resources.

Strategy

Many teachers will want to get going on the Research and Production unit – MEST4 – at the beginning of term 4 (Autumn) so that all the course work is in by the beginning of the Spring term, and the difficult task of marking...

A typical A Level exam production task is to create a trailer for a film.

This is the type of task you will be asked to do:

Make a 3 minute trailer for a 15 rated film in a genre of your choice suitable for a teenage audience with a budget of about £10 million (the approximate budget for Slumdog Millionaire).

Before making your trailer you need to fully understand what a film trailer is, how it works and what it aims to do.

Definition

A...

• We can organise half-day or full day courses on any aspect of Media Studies at your school or college.

• We can also provide keynote speakers for conferences and training events.

Contact MediaEdu

Programme Details

• We come to you.

• Where possible assessors from leading awarding bodies lead our courses.

• Each revision course is 3 hours in length and is delivered in both whole group and seminar-style...

Click on the link below to download a frame for analysing the opening of the film ‘Children of Men’.

Film-Opening-Children-Of-Men.doc

‘It’s just an idea for group work deconstructing an interesting text (especially because, unusually, this one starts in the middle of the disequilibrium, rather than establishing an equilibrium first of all, so is good for narrative theory.  Also, our “hero” is rather...

MediaEdu provides access to the following resources:

A Level Media Studies

• Schemes of work for AS and A2
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

GCSE Media Studies

• Schemes of work for GCSE
• Mock Exams
• Topic Information
• Interactive Quizzes
• Image Gallery

Key Concepts & Skills

• Skills Tutorials
• Production Zone
• Key Concept Guides
• Media Language Glossary

Other Resources

• YouTube Playlist

Support...